Newton TAB editorial: More transparency needed from School Committee

Wednesday

Aug 6, 2014 at 4:50 PMAug 6, 2014 at 4:50 PM

At the urging of some readers, the Newton TAB is filing an Open Meeting Law complaint against the School Committee this week.The complaint focuses on three executive sessions held to discuss damage control relating to allegations of plagiarism against Superintendent David Fleishman.School Committee Chair Matt Hills told the TAB last week the meetings were "absolutely" held in compliance with the Open Meeting Law, but the TAB believes the law was bent – if not broken – by the committee several times.The Opening Meeting Law is Massachusetts’ "sunshine law," designed to create more transparency in government by stipulating how committee meetings are announced to the public and strictly limiting what can be discussed behind closed doors. These closed-door meetings are called "executive sessions" and state law demands the board announce what will be discussed by posting the meeting in a public place 48 hours in advance.The purpose of the notice period is to give the public time to learn about the meeting, ask questions and protest secret meetings if it wishes.State law recognizes that discussing certain topics in open session may harm the government’s interest. Examples include negotiating collective bargaining agreements or the purchase of land. Some personnel issues may be discussed behind closed doors – but the fact that a topic is embarrassing doesn’t necessarily mean it should be discussed in secret.Making sure Newton follows the Open Meeting Law is something the TAB takes seriously. Our vigilance isn’t about punishing or embarrassing city employees or volunteers who serve on boards. Rather, it is an attempt to protect our ability to report on city government. Lack of compliance jeopardizes the public’s right to know how the city is being run.City Clerk David Olson said he received and posted three School Committee executive session notices online on the electronic bulletin board and in the glass case outside the clerk’s office, but the details show some cracks in compliance.A posting for Thursday, July 3 at 8 a.m. was marked "Received by the City Clerk at 1:14 p.m. July 1" – already less than 48 hours before the meeting was to take place. That posting was missing the required location for the meeting, and was revised to include that information on July 2 at 9:30 a.m. – just 22.5 hours before the meeting took place.The committee sent notice of the second executive session, held on July 11 at 8 a.m., to the clerk’s office at 11:54 a.m. on July 9. The notice was then revised twice with the final version going up at 1:28 p.m. on July 9 –making the notification period was too short for the second meeting by more than five hours.More importantly, both of these meetings listed the purpose as "discussing strategy related to collective bargaining."Hills called that description a "mistake."Because the city is currently in negotiations with the teachers union, that "mistake" provided cover for the committee. It meant nobody noticed anything strange about the first two meetings postings and they took place without drawing any scrutiny from the public or local media.The third meeting -- attended by the entire School Committee, including Mayor Setti Warren -- was held with just an hour’s notice to the public. Hills explains that away by saying the meeting was an "emergency."The Open Meeting Law defines emergency as "a sudden, generally unexpected occurrence or set of circumstances demanding immediate action" – in this case, immediate action was "required" because the TAB and other media had started asking questions about a Lion’s Roar article accusing the Superintendent of plagiarism.Even for a newspaper, it’s hard to accept that bad press rises to the level of an "emergency."State law also requires the minutes for an executive session to be released after the issue is resolved. In this case, the only minutes available state "personnel matter discussed."Is this good enough for a city that prides itself on transparency?When it receives the TAB’s compliant, Newton should admit the School Committee violated the spirit – as well as the letter -- of the Opening Meeting Law with these three meetings, and explain how stricter compliance will take place in the future.